The average teenager’s dream of starting school later in the day may come true.
State Rep. Jill Cooper, a Republican and a member of the House Education Committee, is circulating a co-sponsoring memorandum for a bill that would require federal secondary school start times to start no later than 8:15 a.m. starting in 2026. ing. -27th grade. Cooper cited an October 2019 report by the Pennsylvania Consolidated State Government Commission. “Sleep deprivation among young people: A case of delayed starting times at junior high school” To justify delaying the required start time.
“There is consensus within the medical community that a public health crisis exists in the form of an epidemic of chronic sleep deprivation and daytime sleepiness among adolescents.” Ms. Cooper wrote in her co-sponsorship memorandum. “The U.S. Department of Health’s Office of Disease Control and Prevention has made getting enough sleep for high school students a goal of its Healthy People 2020 program, and the National Sleep Foundation has noted that the effects of sleep deprivation among teens are particularly severe.”
In addition to wanting later school start times, Cooper also urges school districts in Pennsylvania to educate their school communities about the health and academic impacts of sleep deprivation on middle school students and the benefits of later start times. I think I want it. Local school boards will also need to discuss strategies to implement later start times.
Some schools have already begun this movement. The Associated Press reported earlier this year that Upper Darby High School in Drexel, Pennsylvania, would begin classes for high school students at 9:45 a.m. instead of the previous 7:30 a.m. start time. For some schools, the pandemic has allowed them to experiment with new schedules. Upper Darby schools initially considered delaying the start time in 2019, but then opted to use remote learning as part of the school day for the 2022-23 school year.
At Upper Darby High School, classes still technically start at 7:30 a.m., and students are assigned coursework remotely that connects to that day’s classes. However, the early morning hours can be used as per your convenience, allowing you to meet with teachers, sleep in, or complete other homework during work hours. Ultimately, the assigned work must be completed early in the morning, but it is up to the student to decide when.
The Associated Press reported in May that at least nine states were considering legislation regarding school start times, up from four a year earlier, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2019, California became the first and only state to mandate school start times.
Critics claim the new schedule will reduce students’ class time. His original 80 minutes were cut short at Upper Darby. Opponents of changing school start times point to logistical challenges, such as changing bus routes and after-school schedules and disrupting family routines that have been built around existing school and work schedules. is often raised. Orange County Schools Superintendent Al Mijares says changing California school start times in 2019 will disproportionately harm students from working-class and single-parent families. I was worried.
“Although this adjustment may be easier for some families with flexible schedules, in some areas parents who work just to make ends meet cannot afford to delay the start of work. .” he wrote in a 2019 opinion piece for the nonprofit organization Cal Matters, according to the Associated Press.